I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this book, because like a snack, it doesn’t require too much description besides it was tasty, left me undernourished, and probably has some high fructose corn syrup packed in. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is fun, not entirely well-written, and left me thinking my time could have been better spent. That’s not to say the novel isn’t enjoyable. However, it is too long and sloppy. Plot not working well? Don’t worry, time travel will solve everything.
Besides being funny, Fforde does remind readers, who may have forgotten, what classics like those written by Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen mean to a number of people. Having read Jane Eyre five years ago, I’d since moved on and left patient Jane with her disfigured Rochester somewhere in a mouldering country estate. Due to the inventiveness of Fforde, I was able to reunite with Jane and Rochester, and follow their relationship in a new way.
I’m always being told to take snacks in moderation; however, it won’t take much effort in this case to stop at one. Jasper Fforde has many more novels set in this world, but I’ll leave them for another reader.